posted August 20, 2008
The city of Chattanooga’s Department of Parks and Recreation announced that it will be installing a variety of outdoor furniture to help animate some of Chattanooga’s waterfront parks.
This Park Animation Project stemmed from Fred Kent’s visit to Chattanooga in April. Mr. Kent is the founder and president of Project for Public Spaces and was the fourth speaker in the George T. Hunter Lecture Series sponsored by the Benwood Foundation, the Community Research Council, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Mr. Kent, a leading authority on public spaces, focused his lecture on the principles that help transform parks, plazas, squares, sidewalks, and other public spaces into vibrant places that contribute to the community.
“People can sense immediately when a city has amenities that are comfortable and welcoming,” said Mr. Kent. He believes that a good public space includes a high proportion of people in groups and ample seating.
The goal of the project is to increase social interaction in Chattanooga’s parks through various forms of furniture.
There will be 130 chairs and 21 tables placed at the waterfront in Coolidge Park. The furniture will be in place this month and is designed to allow the public to create its own arrangements of tables and chairs for a variety of activities.
Mr. Kent identified the fountain in Coolidge Park as one of the top five in the world and the best place to introduce this new concept.
“We want to see the city’s parks used by the public in ways that allow everyone to have fun and enjoy these great spaces” said the city’s Administrator of Parks and Recreation Larry Zehnder.
Picnic table assemblies with umbrellas will also be placed on the south shore of the Waterfront, along the west side of The Green in front of RiverPier Landing and adjacent to the playground. Additional trash receptacles will also be added.
“We want all of our public spaces to be people places and this grant will enable us to furnish our beautiful outdoor rooms (our parks) so that they will be comfortable and friendly places in which to gather,” said Mayor Ron Littlefield.
The furniture, which is made by Landscape Forms, will be donated to the city of Chattanooga by RiverCity Company, and the gift was funded by a grant from the Benwood Foundation.
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